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How I Make Money Blogging: Income Split for August/September 2010

Posted By Darren Rowse 12th of October 2010 Blogging for Dollars 0 Comments

Since April this year I’ve been putting together income reports for my own business to try to give readers a sense of how bloggers make money blogging from a variety of sources.

It’s been a couple of months since I gave an update, so today I’m going to cover both August and September.

Below you’ll see two pie charts with the two months’ splits. You’ll notice that there are a few differences between them, with ebook sales being the biggest mover of the month (it always shifts quite a bit when you launch a new ebook, as I did in August with the Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers).

Screen shot 2010-10-07 at 2.35.02 PM.png Screen shot 2010-10-07 at 2.35.17 PM.png

Below I’ve also included a chart that tracks the different income streams across the last six months, and shows both total income and each of the streams.

You’ll notice that September had the lowest income since last May, mainly because I didn’t launch a product or do any large affiliate promotions that month (it’s the calm before the storm, hopefully, as the end of the year looks like it’ll be busy, busy, busy).

Screen shot 2010-10-07 at 2.35.28 PM.png

The other factor at play here is that the exchange rate between the USD and the Aussie dollar has not been working in my favor.

Where I was getting $1.20AUD just a few months ago for every $USD, the exchange rate is now almost 1:1, due to the strength of the Australian economy at the moment (we seem to be one of the few countries in the world that didn’t have a recession).

As always, people will ask why I don’t put dollar figures on these charts. I’m not really into getting that specific, except to say that the business generates a seven-figure income each year.

What were your last couple of months like?

If you’re interested in the previous months’ breakdowns they’re at:

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. “What were your last couple of months like?”

    No where near 7 figures! Not really even close to 4 figures. I did break 3 figures though. Baby steps?

  2. The weak US dollar is also being felt here in the Philippines. Earnings are down compared to last month and the exchange rate was a big factor.

  3. Hi Darren,

    eBooks, Adsense, and affiliate commissions are big ones for me.

    What is “Continuity”?

    Thanx for showing what makes money for you and what the percentages are. The top items are in alignment with my own money generation methods.

    Would you mind sharing which program you use to make those ever-so-attractive charts?

    I am a bit surprised to see how low on the list the job board is. Are you getting much traffic with it? Perhaps you might toss a little (more) PPC at it?

    Thanx,
    Rick

  4. I still don’t get appreciable income from adsense, and most of my earnings are from freelance web-building jobs. I would definitely like to work on adsense though.

  5. Adsense still rocks for problogger!

  6. Hi Darren,

    My site has been live for 2 years, only just got organised with a funnel system!.

    Confirmed Email Subsribers —–> Fresh Posts —–> Banner Adverts —–> Sales

    Still yet to launch my own downloadable product.

    I’m much more organised now and I don’t stress about traffic anymore, so I should start to get my ideas together for a download!…

    Awesome post!,

    David Edwards

  7. I am curious about the volume of your traffic – a generalized idea would be fine. I see about the same general results from my blogs, but Adsense is about flat with the rest of things. I suspect yours is up just based on ther general traffic you recieve in general. I had not really thought of the ebook market being in general that big. Something to definitely explore going forward.

  8. Thanks for sharing your income chart with your reader. Its not only gives reader insight of your earning but its also tell them whats are the different earning method and which one can earn more for them.

  9. The E-book about the 31 day task is really informational, no wonder it spiked on August..

  10. I have made 2 dollars this month…lol
    Not trying to right now though..I hope to get it together for my next site, that I will be working on with my husband….
    I have never been so happy to make a dollar then when I got my first click on adsence the other day….you’d think I won the lottery!

  11. Thanks for share, I’m learning

  12. So Adsense is still your #1 income source. I though it won’t be any more :)

  13. Thanks for this. I like that you don’t put actual numbers believe it or not. It shows you’re trying to help more than brag about your income. The 7 figure part also shows that, while not bragging, you included this to show that your numbers are not extremely small like $5/month for adsense, etc.

  14. Affiliate income has been ruling my income chart. I always enjoy seeing sources of income for other bloggers.

  15. Classy, Darren. I think the most useful take-away bloggers and other self-employed people can get from this is the importance of multiple streams of income. I know that gets talked up a lot, but it’s rare, in my experience, to see someone break out their income streams so clearly. I think it’s also important that you point out that the percentages among the streams vary. I would hope people learn from this that it pays to stick with a new income stream and not give up when it doesn’t immediately produce impressive profits.

  16. Great breakdown of your monthly earnings and congratulations. This should be an inspiration to every online blogger/marketer that it IS possible. :-)

  17. Interesting stats. I am interested to see that a good part of your income from adsense as many people are moving away from it because other sources of income e.g. cpa are proving more “profitable”.

    Also, in respect of exchange rate I think you can put your adsense payments on hold until a later date – might be of some interest if you don’t need the money now and feel the excchange rate may improve in your favour in the near future.

    Simon

  18. Interesting and quite revealing stats. 20% of the income is from ebooks. I have been thinking of offering ebook, but always worry about the amount of work it needs.

    My only source of income is Adsense. I am having a steady views of about 90,000-100,000 page views / month. I don’t know if it is a decent. But my adsense revenue revolves around 300-350$. Is that reasonable? How can I improve on it? Please provide some suggestions.

  19. Hi Darren,
    I find your breakdowns really useful and inspiring for those of us running online businesses.

    One thing I’m still unsure about and need some guidance on is acceptable advertsing rates. One of my sites is now getting >1000 unique visitors per day, which is the target I’d set to start trying to get dedicated advertisers signed up rather than doing it all through affiliate banners and adsense. Is there any advice on sliding scales of rates – ie at this level, what you could realistically charge for banners, and how that would increase as you pass 2,000/5,000/10,000 etc unique visitors per day?

    Thanks

    Caspar

  20. You are really my idol as far as blogging is concerned. And you are very good in monetization.

    I just realized that selling e-books on the blog can be a very lucrative way to earn money — it is at par with your Adsense income!

  21. em..you earn big. At least, better than me.

  22. Man! I would kill for those figures. LOL

    Jokes apart, I find it interesting to see you still earning most of your income via Adsense. Must be your Photography blog. Ain’t it? ;)

  23. What? That much just to blog? I guess I am in the wrong business. I guess I should start looking into blogging.

  24. Very interesting.
    You are amazing at what you do.
    Thank you for sharing your insights! :)

  25. Despite what many people think, as we enter a depression, many people will lose their job and look for other internet opportunities. That means if we grab this by the kahunas and have a good offer and find these people and put our message infront of them our sales will increase.

    I have noted a slight increase in sales since the start of all the 08 stockmarket meltdown and people losing their job. So do not listen to those nay sayers get out there and make money, it is all about supply and demand in the end.

  26. These numbers controvert so many people saying that AdSense didn’t generate enough income for them. 20% of seven figures is a nice amount of bucks :).
    I like to see that.
    Why the portion of Chitika earnings is so small? Do you exploit less than the other sources?

  27. This is great stuff i run a online magazine site and we have been trying to work out how we can increase our online sales but at the moment we have not had much luck even though we are one of the most popular showbiz magazines on the net

  28. not earned so far..stil trying to get to it

  29. Well by month two of my blog launch I have made 24 cents. I know you said its an uphill battle in the first months but that’s depressing. I am shifting focus to only posting and trying to generate traffic next month, I figure no point in trying to learn about adds and affiliate programs and inserting them if I don’t have more than 50 visits in a month. God I hope this works!

  30. Hey Darren,

    Thanks for the great info, I never knew that e-book sales can occupy that big a portion, I cant believe it beat Adsense and other ad networks sales.

    I’m still new at blogging, only 2 weeks old but I think once I succeed in getting traffic to my blog I might be able to actually release an e-book and see how it goes, since its possible for it to be one of the major sources of my income.

    I just need to build credibility first so people would be interested in what I’m selling.

    Thanks for the article Darren. :)

  31. As they say, when the student is ready the teacher appears.
    Thank you Darren for this post. As someone new to the arts of blogging I find your analysis enlightening and it helps me to understand how to use my blog in a more strategic way. Because my blog has been essentially a team support system in the past I didn’t necessarily use it as a normal blogger would but my income streams have certainly increased using a blog as a marketing platform.

    I know a little more thanks to this post.

    Thank you and best wishes
    Peter

  32. Awesome post! 7 figures? Thats over a million dollars!!! I bet you wish the Australian Dollar wasn’t so strong against the USD hey Darren? The only aspect missing here is the traffic your blog is getting. Can you give us a ballpark figure?

  33. What are some suggestions for promoting your website—besides basic (friends, family, co-workers).

  34. Wow what a fantastic report and also a great insight into the potential of earning money through your blogs. Donny keep trying, keep working towards it my friend.

  35. Thanks so much for sharing! This should give newbies (and some not-so-newbies) hope.

  36. Good to know that adsense is still pulling in the biggest bucks. Keep it up darren. I’m inspired to try out new ways of earning passive income on the net.

    Cheers.

  37. that is very impressive charts to look at. dude keep up the good work.

  38. Very charming, interesting, hope all come ture

  39. What is the dollar count, why don’t you share that?

  40. I began blogging earlier this year and have appreciated the good guidance I’ve received from your articles, but this column goes beyond my blogging focus and helps me to see that, yes, I do need to write the e-book that keeps coming to mind. Thanks.

  41. 1. Adsense, 2. Affiliates programs, non-Amazon, 3. Direct Sales (sponsored posts, not ads) 4. Amazon

    At $700/month average, so I’m making a measly 4 figures each year, but it’s a nice part-time income.

  42. Its good to see you make so much money. I have a quick question though. Your report shows Adsense, strange I never noticed a ad on this blog.

  43. Seven figures? That’s amazing. Thanks for sharing the info that you did, you’re inspiring a lot of people to follow in your footsteps. Now I have to learn about what this ‘e-book’ business is all about and see if it could possibly be relevant to my business in any way. Adsense too, if you do that, aren’t they just going to randomly post ads that are related to your product (which I just know would be an online competitor to my ‘custom’ product and I could end up shooting myself in the foot).

  44. Well I am depressed, my third month of ‘pro’ blogging and I am down 30%, that’s 30% less than my huge month of 70 visits. Not sure what the problem is, everything I read about growing a following is stuff I am doing already, maybe just not doing it enough? Well I am not giving up yet, I think I have some good content and loads of more ideas so I’ll keep at it!

  45. Without a USP (unique selling proposition) a decent and loyal size list and lots of traffic, it’s not feasible to make money from ANY blog ad. Popularity and networking skills contribute a great deal to income volume or lack thereof. That plus good SEO.

  46. Hi daren,
    it’s my first comment on your blog and I have to tell you that I have just started blogging after I have read you awsome book ^^ PROBLOGGER … I wanted to thank you for your help ( and for Cris.G too ) … now I am looking forward to get more tips from your blog …
    GB until the next comment ^^

  47. I am surprised at how much you make from Adsense compared to everything else you do. Also interesting stat on the Australian economy, must be nice living somewhere that isn’t having issues like are in the US.

  48. I’m still quite beginner in blogging, will keep learning from problogger and make my site awesome and as my full time income. :D

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